Pecking Order
by Dukes126plus
Summary: Angry as Bo seems to be, Luke notices that he takes the beer with him. Seems like his cousin’s too greedy to pull off a good, solid pout. From The Days of Shine and Roses.


Off to season two! Where the boys are younger and less cohesive (and Luke picks on a strangely -- whiny? Bo incessantly). This one's from _The Days of Shine and Roses_, and started from the way that Luke keeps reminding Bo that the grudge match between J.D. and Jesse is all his fault. (Which, of course, it's not.)

* * *

It's not until after eleven that Jesse finally shuffles off to his bed, and that's after he's wondered a good five times when Bo's going to come in off that porch. _Not until you get done with your fool grudge match against J.D. _doesn't seem like what the old man wants to hear, so Luke just shrugs and waits for Jesse's record to get unstuck. As soon as that old oak door to his uncle's bedroom is latched, Luke goes into the kitchen and digs around the refrigerator before heading outside.

"Oh, fine," Bo snaps as he's stepping out onto the porch. "You come to tell me how I ain't watching the dang car good enough?" Not content to talk like a brat, Bo stands up from the porch swing and hops over the enclosure where they didn't get around to screening it in yet. It's pretty dark out by the car, but there's no fear of losing track of his kid cousin. With all that dayglow hair, about the only place Luke might not be able to spot him is in a blizzard. "I ain't fell asleep, if that's what you're worried about."

If he'd known that Bo was going to sulk like this, he might have left him to himself. Now that Luke's out here, though, he might as well enjoy the cool of the night. So he finds himself a seat on the steps and holds out one of his hands.

"Brought you this," he says. Funny how Bo approaches him slowly, like he thinks maybe it's a stick of dynamite that Luke's trying to pass him. "It ain't gonna hurt you." It's the cheap, no-name brand of beer that Rhuebottoms carries, but it's got better flavor than what they could get at the Boar's Nest.

Bo's still not sure, looks like, so Luke sets the one can down on the step next to his own leg and opens the other. Sips it and looks up at the moon. He's not surprised, seconds later, to feel the heavy thud and shift of the boards underneath him as Bo flops down beside him, dramatic sigh and all. Just like a man who doesn't like to be ignored. Then there's the pop of pressure being released and the tinkle as Bo drops the tab into the can.

"I'll take the next watch," Luke offers.

Bo's on his feet again, stalking a few sulky steps away from him.

"I can handle it, Luke." Angry as Bo seems to be, Luke notices that he takes the beer with him. Seems like his cousin's too greedy to pull off a good, solid pout. "You want me to keep an eye on the car until race time, _fine_. I can do it without no help from you."

Yep, typical Bo, speeding through life. Right on past the anger and well onto the self-pity.

"Why you got to take everything so personal?" Luke grumbles at him. Only a minute ago he was noticing how nice and cool the porch was after being stuck in the stuffy house. Now he's considering storming back inside for no better reason than Bo's acting like a brat again.

"Why don't you ever quit?" Bo fires back at him. "Always telling me what I got to do…"

Luke bites back a laugh, reckons Bo wouldn't appreciate the humor. Also wouldn't appreciate the truth, which is that there's a pecking order in the Duke household, and Bo's at the bottom. If there was no such thing as the threat of war, Luke figures a few years in the military would grow his cousin up.

"Suit yourself," Luke says, and pushes himself up from the step.

"Oh no you don't," Bo answers, closer than Luke would have thought, long arm reaching out and snatching his free hand. He's caught off-balance and has no choice but to stumble down the steps and right into Bo's chest. Feels beer running down his hand, and more splattering onto his shirt. Cold stuff, not sure whose can it came from.

"Bo!" he snaps. Gets himself separate from his cousin so he can figure out the mess. His can's overflowing with fizz, so he puts it down on the hood of that bone-heap of a car with a hot engine that Cooter has given Jesse. Looks at Bo to see that he's got a bigger problem, beer dripping off his chin and staring at the offending can from which it came. How in hell Bo wound up throwing it on himself Luke may never know, but his cousin's never exactly been coordinated that way.

So he bites back another laugh and explanation of how the pecking order reverses itself half the time, too, this being a shining example. Instead, he just unsnaps his shirt and pulls out the tails. Wipes his right hand on the one, then pulls the other up to mop off Bo's face. He half expects Bo to pull away and use his own sleeve to take care of things. That's what Luke would do if Jesse or Daisy was trying to clean his face for him. But of course, Bo isn't Luke, he stays still and lets himself be taken care of. Even if it means Luke has to practically climb up on top of Bo's feet to get his shirt tail up to where the mess is.

"That got it?" Luke asks, when he's scrubbed off Bo's cheeks and chin. Gets a headshake and Bo cranes his neck so Luke can see the glitter of foam and beer under his chin. Dang it, by now Luke would be slapping away the hands of anyone who tried to touch him, but Bo's just tilting his head this way and that, showing Luke where all that nasty beer done picked on him. "How about now?" So much for not laughing, he can't help but snicker when Bo shows him how it got on his nose, too. "You got any left in the can?"

Bo tilts his head down to look at it again, and Luke takes advantage of the moment to run his shirt tail over those fuzzy eyebrows, too. Doesn't expect to find any moisture there, mostly does it because they're there and sort of cute, looking all perplexed. "Nope," Bo answers mournfully.

Luke laughs again at the poor, sad fate of Bo and his beer and steps back to admire his handiwork. As far as he can tell, Bo's clean, and Luke needs a new shirt. "You can have mine," he offers, turning for the house.

Bo's got his hand again. "Oh no you don't," he repeats. This time things seems to go better, or at least closer to what Bo has in mind. Luke figures he's getting one of those big old Bo Duke hugs, _thanks for looking after me_ kind of thing. Luke's had to put up with this his whole life, first taking care of Bo, then getting just about suffocated as thanks for his effort.

This one turns on him, though.

"You missed a spot," Bo says, all close to his ear.

Exactly like the brat to complain when Luke's just about wiped his snotty nose for him. "Where?" he asks, all skepticism.

"Right here," Bo answers, putting his lips right over Luke's. Damn if the kid doesn't have himself a point. They taste just like beer.


End file.
